Vinylaholics Anonymous
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Hello, my name is Kate and I am an addict. A vinyl addict. I first realized I had a problem when I was 16. I should have known it would be impossible to save money while working in a record store. As time goes on my addiction has gotten worse, and recently I reached an all-time low.On vacation in the northwest, little did I know that I would almost go broke (my wallet and my back) buying records. Damn you Oregon and your incredible record stores! Why did I need to buy 32 LPs? This is bound to be an incredibly long post, so i'll just talk about half of my purchases and why I was impelled to buy them:Can: Ege Bamyasi and Soundtracks. These were my biggest splurges, and completely worth the 18 bucks I paid for each of them. Now i've got two of my favorite Can songs ("I'm So Green" and "She Brings the Rain") the way they were meant to be heard.Holger Czukay, the Edge and Jah Wobble: Snake Charmer. Recorded in 1983, this EP isn't as amazing as some of the other Holger albums i've got, but redeems itself with a taste of Jaki Leibezeit's drumming and the disco funk of the second track, "Hold On To Your Dreams".
Extra Golden: Ok-Oyot System. To quote The LEC's great MOG introduction to the band, "Extra Golden is comprised of the two guitarists of Golden (ethnomusicologist Ian Eagleson and Alex Minoff of Weird War), and Otieno Jagwasi and Onyango Wuod Omari of the Nairobi, Kenya based benga band Orchestra Extra Solar Africa." Read more about their jammy meld of DC rock and Kenyan Bengan music here.Finally realizing that there is no way my dad will ever give me any of his reggae albums, I have slowly started collecting a few of my favorites, including the debut albums by
and
Now I can dork out to fullest extent and listen to Mutabaruka's dub poetry while wearing my old "Check It Tour 1983" t-shirt.I was totally excited to find a couple Dr. John records that I didn't have, "Desitively Bonnaroo" and "Anytime, Anyplace". It turns out that "Anytime..." is a pretty rare record from '74 and I am having trouble finding any information on it at all. AND, as I discovered when I got home and played it, my copy is made up of two side A's! If anyone has any background info about the record, I would love to hear it.
Keeping with the Doctor theme, I grabbed a couple Dr. Hook records and a pristine copy of Shel Siverstein's "Freakin' at the Freaker's Ball". I wish I could find a picture of the inner sleeve, which shows a nude Silverstein throwing his own head at a topless lady. The same poet we all grew up with has a very dirty, very funny sense of humor. Here's a sample of the lyrics to "Freakin'":Where all the fags and the dykes they're boogyin' togetherThe leather freaks are dressed in all kinds of leatherThe greatest of the sadists and the masochists tooScreaming "Please hit me, and I'll hit you"The FBI are dancing with the junkiesAll the straights, are swinging with the fogiesAcross the floor and up the wallWe're freakin at the freakers ballY'all, we're freakin at the freakers ballEverybody's kissing each otherBrother with sister, son with motherSmear my body up with butterTake me to the freakers ballCan you sense a theme in my vinyl purchases yet? Hold on, i'm not quite done yet....I was digging through a dusty pile of Styx and Barbra when I came across Harry Nilsson's "The Point". A concept record that seems tailor made for kiddy story time. Since I am not a mom, i'll just play it for myself when i'm feeling cranky :) I also got "Nilsson Schmilsson" and "Son of Schmilsson", which both came with posters. Which begs the question: would I rather have a bathrobe-clad Nilsson or a Dracula Nilsson on my wall? There is a recent documentary called "Who is Harry Nilsson? (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)", which I am dying to see. Bear with me, darlings, for I about to go off on a tangent:In 1971, a movie starring Dustin Hoffman came out, called "Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?". Hoffman plays a neurotic, bathrobe-wearing singer-songwriter and in one of my favorite scenes, appears at the Fillmore East (in front of an audience actually there for a Grateful Dead show). Dustin Hoffman also appears in the Nilsson documentary. So, it appears that the '71 movie has a character based on Nilsson, then the documentary about his life took its title from said movie. Connection #7,314: while looking up info about "Who is Harry Kellerman" I came across this photo of Shel Silverstein and Dustin Hoffman:
I had forgotten that Dr. Hook and The Medecine Show are Dustin's backing band in the movie.Yes, I actually sit around and ponder coincidences like this.
Extra Golden: Ok-Oyot System. To quote The LEC's great MOG introduction to the band, "Extra Golden is comprised of the two guitarists of Golden (ethnomusicologist Ian Eagleson and Alex Minoff of Weird War), and Otieno Jagwasi and Onyango Wuod Omari of the Nairobi, Kenya based benga band Orchestra Extra Solar Africa." Read more about their jammy meld of DC rock and Kenyan Bengan music here.Finally realizing that there is no way my dad will ever give me any of his reggae albums, I have slowly started collecting a few of my favorites, including the debut albums byandNow I can dork out to fullest extent and listen to Mutabaruka's dub poetry while wearing my old "Check It Tour 1983" t-shirt.I was totally excited to find a couple Dr. John records that I didn't have, "Desitively Bonnaroo" and "Anytime, Anyplace". It turns out that "Anytime..." is a pretty rare record from '74 and I am having trouble finding any information on it at all. AND, as I discovered when I got home and played it, my copy is made up of two side A's! If anyone has any background info about the record, I would love to hear it.Keeping with the Doctor theme, I grabbed a couple Dr. Hook records and a pristine copy of Shel Siverstein's "Freakin' at the Freaker's Ball". I wish I could find a picture of the inner sleeve, which shows a nude Silverstein throwing his own head at a topless lady. The same poet we all grew up with has a very dirty, very funny sense of humor. Here's a sample of the lyrics to "Freakin'":Where all the fags and the dykes they're boogyin' togetherThe leather freaks are dressed in all kinds of leatherThe greatest of the sadists and the masochists tooScreaming "Please hit me, and I'll hit you"The FBI are dancing with the junkiesAll the straights, are swinging with the fogiesAcross the floor and up the wallWe're freakin at the freakers ballY'all, we're freakin at the freakers ballEverybody's kissing each otherBrother with sister, son with motherSmear my body up with butterTake me to the freakers ballCan you sense a theme in my vinyl purchases yet? Hold on, i'm not quite done yet....I was digging through a dusty pile of Styx and Barbra when I came across Harry Nilsson's "The Point". A concept record that seems tailor made for kiddy story time. Since I am not a mom, i'll just play it for myself when i'm feeling cranky :) I also got "Nilsson Schmilsson" and "Son of Schmilsson", which both came with posters. Which begs the question: would I rather have a bathrobe-clad Nilsson or a Dracula Nilsson on my wall? There is a recent documentary called "Who is Harry Nilsson? (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)", which I am dying to see. Bear with me, darlings, for I about to go off on a tangent:In 1971, a movie starring Dustin Hoffman came out, called "Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?". Hoffman plays a neurotic, bathrobe-wearing singer-songwriter and in one of my favorite scenes, appears at the Fillmore East (in front of an audience actually there for a Grateful Dead show). Dustin Hoffman also appears in the Nilsson documentary. So, it appears that the '71 movie has a character based on Nilsson, then the documentary about his life took its title from said movie. Connection #7,314: while looking up info about "Who is Harry Kellerman" I came across this photo of Shel Silverstein and Dustin Hoffman:I had forgotten that Dr. Hook and The Medecine Show are Dustin's backing band in the movie.Yes, I actually sit around and ponder coincidences like this.
Comments (49)
As another vinyl junkie who blew his wages on the employee's discount the record store gave me, your post brings back memories (then again so did "High Fidelity" which really hit home. By the way...that discount for working at the now defunct "The Record Stop" - cost baby!
Yes...I have to play CDs at work and in the car but at holding those vinyl platters in my hand is still magic!
Timothy Ritter has the quote of the year on MOG: "So much great 20th century music is sitting on dusty shelves all over the world, waiting patiently for thirsty ears". So true!
Oops...it's a shame that I can't edit on MOG after posting. I was so excited typing that I left out a word:
"...at HOME holding those vinyl platters in my hand is still magic!"
:=)
I use Cool Edit Pro but aside from really loud pops and clicks on the vinyl transfer to the digital world, I tend to leave the other crackling sounds intact just to remind me that it is actually from a record.
: = )
Somebody I don't know and will never meet again gave me a box full of vinyl on Tuesday. 57 items in it, including two box sets, and most of it is very fine stuff. The Springsteen 5-disc live box set ('75 to '85), John Lennon, The Pretenders, Billy Bragg... tons and tons of great stuff.
I am so lucky.